Method and apparatus for treating bundled tobacco



y 0, 1952 E. R. COLEY 2,597,620

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BUNDLED TOBACCO- Filed Oct. 15, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 III I III [Hull um w- W" m il' Inventor By 22;. aoflam mdfiway 3m E. R. COLEY May 20, 1952 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BUNDLED TOBACCO Filed Oct. 15, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 lure/[tar Ward R. 6 04656 .v m A mEiEEsfi E1525:

May 20, 1952 E. R. COLEY METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BUNDLED TOBACCO s Shee ts-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 15, 1946 l'ullgwllll.

I I I I v I I I 1 I I I I I I I I In I I I I I I lv A I N .QM MN uMQIHH. \N \N @H Attorneys E. R. COLEY May 20, 1952 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BUNDLED TOBACCO 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 15, 1946 Edward 1?. 60k

Attorneys B y I May 20, 1952 E. R. COLE Y 2,597,620

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BUNDLED TOBACCO' Filed Oct. 15, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 I nveutor .ZauarijZ aw May 20, 1952 E. R. co| EY 2,597,620

- METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BUNPL-ED TOBACCO Fiied on. 15 1946 e Sheets-Sheet e Inventor Edzu 112 601 B, 2mm

WWW PM? Patented May 20, 1952 ED STATES FATE- NT Q F-F ICE METHOD. D APPARATUSEOR-TREATING BUND'BED TOBACCO 15..Glai.ms. 1

This invention :relates to treating :hundled atoloaccoand hasfor-itsiprimary, object toiloosensthe leaves of a tobacco {bundle and :removeziiust. dirt and debris from :the: smfaces-thereof.

Another object iszto prepare .bundlefd :tobacco for subsequent curingwithoutinjuringatheeleaves thereof.

The above and other objects may be attainedsby employing this invention which. embodiesoa-mong its features movingtobacco{bundles-alon smhorizontal path, while so .moving 'thezbundlesyloosening the leavesthereof and while loosening-the leaves of said bundles. blowing-dust,:dirtrandt-foreign matter therefrom.

Other features include advancingua'ggroup of bundles of tobacco in a rectilinear .-path :in ;a horizontal position, turning :the --:bundles into .a vertical position, spreading thesleavesmethe-irtoloacco so turnedyand while;so=spreading theleaves holding the heads of'the'bundles against-turning movement.

Still other features include collecting {the spread and cleaned bundles-on .=a--.stick..and=;de livering the bundlesso collected toa.curingsoven.

Still other features includea iconveyor ;.9,lOI l g which horizontally disposed abundlesof gtobacco are advanced insuccessioma.spreadenonto.which successive bundles are-deliveredxby .the' convwor and advanced to lo0sen the leavesin-thenbundles, means to engage the heads of thabundles while they are being advanced:alongsthesspreaderwand means to drive the conveyor, spreaderrandehead supporting means in unison.

Still further features include meansrto s inpont a stick adjacent the discharge tend of the spreader, onto whichthe spread bundlesare-oelivered, and means for conveyingtheloaded.stick to a curing oven.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan-view.-of-atobaccmtneating machine embodying the -features of ;this..invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary:detail viewaofsthe bundle spreader;

Figure 3 is a side -vieweofsthetmachineaillus- Figure '7 is .an enlarged.fragmentaryesectional J:

view itaken substantially along the line 1-1 of Figured;

ifl gure ais a fragmentary view partially in sectionof the stick-conveyingand delivering. mecha- 1115111;

fi ure-:9 ii a "top plan view of y the mechani m us atedin Fi ures;

-Fig;u1:e.,-L0 is a'se ctionalview taken substantially alongrtherline l-0l,0 of Figure .5;

Figure ll is a detail sectionalview through. the stick conveyor and support taken substantiallypn line.-I-:l- ;l l ofsFigure 8;

.eFiigure -l2 isatransverse sectional view through the stick conveyor-illustrating the stick transfer mechanism taken substantially along the line L2- lZ-of .Figurefi :Figure :13 :is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially elongthel-lne i 3-- I3 of Figure 9;

Figure slat-is anvenlargedsectional view through the leaf spreader,

:Figure 15 is,a;sectional view taken substantially along-the line .=l.5l'5of.,Figure 1 on-a slightlyenlargad .scale, and

.Eigure 16 .is an enlargedsectional View .taken substantially no the-line l 6l 6 of Figure 3.

iReferring to the drawings in detail my improved treating apparatus zcomprisesa .main conveyor ...-.des ignated ,generally .20 consisting v ,of v.a frame 2 2 I, in-wvhich, a plurality of longitudinally spaced rollers .22 .are .mounted to rotate about horizontalsaxes. .A.. conveyor.:belt 23 is trained over .these rollers. and themajor portion of the beltuissinclined. downwardly-toward its receiv n end-whilefthadelivery,endoi the .b eltiis supported at .;-a islighbl-y higher level and the two rollers adjacent .;.the ,delivervend .are arranged in the sameshorizental .plane so that the upper ,runwof the..belt,. will trauelhorizontally for. a shortmdistance. adjacent the. delivery. end of the conveyor. A suitable guide board 24 extends longitudinally along.v oneside edge of, the. .belt as will-be readi y understood .upon reference .to the drawings. Mountedlto rumonsuitable, longitudinally spaced rollersrziimmediately, abovelthe horizontal portionleof the,belt '2 3 .isahold downbeltlfi, which is OfjfimWidth considerablyless than thewidth of the conveyor .belt 23- iandtofiset to oneside ,soasto engage athe heads ,of the tobacco bundles being advanced ,along ..-the .belt. or apron 23. Suitable I tension ..,r 01ls. 2.1 1 .and .72] are supported ,on ,arms 28 and .18 .oarried by- .the frame 2 I v and..;en gage the upper. sidesz-of the .belt.-26 in. order to hold it taut.

eBotatably supported on .the .same waxes .with

. therrgollerszfi-tare gro,ovcd pulleysiZS and 3.0- over which is trained a tilting belt or guide 3|, the lower run of which rides on the leaves of the tobacco bundle and is guided over a grooved pulley 32 at a considerably lower level so that as the bundles leave the conveyor belt 23 they will be tilted into a vertical position.

My improved spreader designated generally 33 comprises a spreading spindle designated generally 34 formed of a conical body 35 formed with a peripheral spiral groove, and carrying at its reduced end a spirally grooved spear 36 which overlies the delivery end of the belt 23, slightly above the upper surface thereof, and slightly ofiset toward the belt 26 so that as the tobacco bundles are delivered toward the delivery end of the conveyor the spear will enter the bundles and pass between the leaves adjacent the heads thereof. It will thus be seen that the bundles will be suspended on the conical body as they leave the delivery end of the conveyor 20, and due to the spiral groove in the spear and in the body 35 the bundles will be moved toward the larger end of the spreader, as the leaves are being spread. The spreader 33 is supported on a frame 31 carrying on its upper side longitudinally spaced bearings 38 in which a cantilever shaft 39 is mounted to rotate, and to which the spreading spindle 34 is attached. The end of the shaft 39 opposite that carrying the spreading spindle 34 is equipped with a suitable sprocket over which a drive chain 49 is trained.

Trained over oppositely disposed longitudinally spaced guide rollers 4| carried by parallel upwardly inclined bars 42, supported on the frame 20 above the spreader 33, are guide belts 43, adjacent runs of which are adapted to engage the heads of the bundles riding the spreading spindle 34, so as to hold the bundles against turning movement on the spindle and in a substantially vertical position during their travel along the spreader, it being noted that the belt 3| not only tilts the bundles to a vertical position, but also prevents the bundles from overturning due to the rotation of the spindle until they are engaged by the guide belts 43. It will be noted that the adjacent runs of the guide belts 43 are horizontally convergent adjacent the smaller end of the spindle so as to receive and grip the heads of the bundles although individual bundles may be tilted somewhat by the spindle rotation. Trained over a pair of longitudinally spaced rollers 44 and 45 adjacent the larger end of the spreading spindle 34 is a longitudinally extending belt 46 onto which the tobacco bundles are delivered as they leave the larger end of the spreading spindle, and protecting the bundles from the shaft 39 is a spreading shield 41 which encloses the shaft 39 bearings 38 and the sprocket and a portion of the chain 40 by means of which the shaft is driven.

The belts 43 are driven by drive pulleys 43a. (Fig. 6) which depend from the bars 42 adjacent the upper ends thereof. These drive pulleys 43a carry adjacent their upper ends grooved pulleys 432) over which drive belts 430 are trained. These belts 430 are trained over grooved drive pulleys 43d which are fixed adjacent the upper end of an upwardly extending shaft 43c (Fig. 3) mounted for rotation in suitable brackets 43 carried by the rearmost legs of the frame 20. A drive gear 43g is fixed adjacent the lower end of the shaft 43c and this gear 439 is driven by means of a pinion mounted on the end of a horizontally extending shaft 43h which is mounted to rotate on the frame 20 and carries a grooved 4 drive pulley 431' which has driving connection with a grooved pulley 437' through the medium of an endless drive belt 43k. The pulley 439 is fixed to the drive spindle 43m of the drive sprocket of the stick conveyor to be more fully hereinafter described so that when the machine is set into operation the belts 43 will be driven. It is to be noted that one of the drive belts 430 is crossed so as to cause the adjacent runs of the belts 43 to move in unison in the same direction.

As illustrated in Figure 14 the tapered body 35 of the spreader 34 is provided with a longitudinal bore 48, and a plurality of radial openings 49, while the shaft 39 is provided with a longitudinal bore and radial openings 5| which align with the radial openings 49 so that air entering the bore 50 will be discharged radially through the body 35 to blow out any dust, dirt or foreign matter carried by the leaves which are being spread. The spear 36 is also provided with a longitudinal passage or bore 52 and radial passages 53, with the longitudinal passage communicating with the longitudinal passage 50 of the shaft 39. The end of the shaft 39 carrying the sprocket about which the chain 40 operates is equipped with any suitable rotary coupling by means of which an air pressure supply may be connected to the shaft.

- Mounted in suitable bearings at the base of the supporting frame of the device is a longitudinally extending drive shaft 54 carrying a drive sprocket for the chain 40 and provided adjacent its forward end with a beveled pinion 55 which meshes with a beveled pinion 56 by means of which a transversely extending drive shaft 51 is rotated. The drive pulley 58 is fixed to the shaft 54 and connected through the medium of a drive belt 59 with a suitable cone pulley 60 to which any suitable source of power is adapted to be applied. Mounted on the end of the shaft 51 opposite that carrying the pinion 56 is a grooved pulley 6| which has driving connection through the medium of a drive belt 62 with a grooved drive pulley 63 carried by the shaft on which the roller 22 at the delivery end of the conveyor 20 is mounted. A spur gear 64 is also mounted on the shaft carrying the pulley 63 and meshing with the gear 64 is a spur pinion 65 carrying a grooved pulley 66. A drive belt 61 is trained over the pulley 66 and over a drive pulley 68 carried by the roller 25 at the delivery end of the conveyor 20 and an idler pulley 69. It will thus be seen that the turning belt 3| will be driven in unison with the spreader 34.

In order properly to handle the bundles after they leave the spreader 34 and the transfer conveyor 46 I provide a conveyor designated generally 10 which comprises a base 1| (Figure 16) supporting adjacent opposite ends guide pulleys 12 and 13. These pulleys operate about axes perpendicular to the plane of the base 1| and trained thereover are bundle supporting belts 14 and 15 respectively. Similar grooved pulleys 16 are mounted to rotate at opposite ends of the base 1| about axes which lie perpendicular to the axes about which the pulleys 12 and 13 operate, and these pulleys 16 serve to guide a supporting belt 11 along a longitudinal path substantially midway between the belts 14 and 15, the upper run of which lies in a plane above the belts 14 and 15 so as to form a three point support upon which the spread bundles of tobacco may ride. In order to aid in the transfer of the tobacco bundles along the belts 14, 15 and 11 I provide the belt 11 with outwardly extending bosses 18. As illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, the transfer conveyor extends laterally and downwardly with relation to the longitudinal axis of the machine so that its delivery end is disposed over a stick conveyor designated generally 19. The stick conveyor best illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 comprises an endless chain 99 trained over longitudinally spaced sprockets 8i and a drive sprocket 82. This drive sprocket is connected through the medium of a gear train 83 with the drive shaft 54 so that the chain 89 will be driven in unison with the conveyor 23 and spreader 34. Carried by the chain 89 are longitudinally spaced stops 84, and the distance between the stops is sufiicient to accommodate a stick 85 (Figure 11) the stops 84 are provided with oppositely extending guide flanges 89 in order to support opposite ends of the sticks in proper position on the chain 80. The delivery end of the transfer conveyor 10 is disposed above the stick conveyor 19 at such a distance that the spread leaves will not contact the conveyor-or a stick thereon until the bundle drops from the delivery end of the transfer conveyor l9 onto a stick on the stick conveyor 19.

In order to further treat the tobacco traveling along the stick conveyor I find it advantageous to enclose the chain 89 in a housing 81 for a portion of its distance, and to support on the housing a plurality of horizontally spaced longitudinally extending pipes 88 provided at spaced intervals with discharge openings 89 through which air entering the pipes will be delivered against the leaves of the tobacco bundles as illustrated in Figure 13, to further remove any foreign matter which may have been carried over from the initial spreading and blowing operation.

As the tobacco bundles on a stick approach the tunnel conveyor of a curing kennel, the stick is removed from the stick conveyor with its load by means of the transfer mechanism best illustrated in Figure 12. This transfer mechanism comprises a stand 99 supporting a horizontally extending bar 9| which is slightly below the level of the underside of a stick resting on the chain 80, with its load of tobacco supported thereon. Slidably supported on the bar 9! and arranged to engage the stick adjacent opposite ends is a pair of arms 92 having tapered fingers 93 which are adapted to engage the stick which is stopped against a shoulder 9d formed on each bar. The underside of each bar is formed with a cam 95 which as the arm is advanced toward the stick rides the bar 9| to cause the stick to be elevated a distance sufficient to enable the leaves of tobacco hanging therefrom freely to pass across the top of the chain 89. As the arms approach the ends of their travel, the stick is lowered ontoa tunnel conveyor chain 96 by reason of a depression 91 formed in the undersides of the arms 92 as suggested by the dotted lines in Figure 12. A lever 98 is pivotally connected to the rear end of each arm and these levers are moved in unison by a shaft 99 which in turn is rocked bout its axis by means of a lever arm I00 which may be moved in any suitable manner, as by the connecting rod It! operating from a crank arm I02 carried by a crank disc I93 which is adapted to be rotated in any suitable manner.

In operation it will be understood that the tobacco bundles are deposited on the apron 23 of the conveyor 29 in the position suggested by the broken lines in Figure 1 so that the heads of the bundles will ride beneath the belt 26 until the spear 36 has entered the leaves immediately below the heads. As the bundles advance toward the delivery end of the conveyor 20 and the spear 6. 36 enters the bundle, the belt 3| will cause the bundles to be turned into a vertical position on the spreader so that the heads pass between the parallel runs of the belts 43, and between the rollers l. Advancing along the spreader through the medium of the spiral grooves of the surface there.- of the leaves of the bundle will be separated by the spreader and due to the air blast injected thereinto through the passage 50 in the shaft 39 any dirt, dust or foreign matter will be blown from the surfaces of the leaves. Leaving the spreader the tobacco bundles are deposited on the conveyor belt 45 and carried toward the rear of the machine to be deposited upon the transfer conveyor 79. Riding along the belts of the transfer conveyor 70 the bundles then drop from the delivery end thereof onto a stick which has been previously mounted in bundle receiving position on the stick conveyor. As the bundles are advanced on the stick by the stick conveyor they are further subjected to air blasts from the pipes 88 until they reach the point of delivery to the tunnel conveyor 96. The transfer mechanism then lifts the stick with the bundle from the stick conveyor and deposits it on the tunnel conveyor 96 as previously described.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The herein described method of treating bundled tobacco which includes moving horizontally disposed tobacco bundles along a horizontal path, while so moving the bundles along said path impaling the bundles on a horizontal support, turning the impaled bundles into a vertical position, advancing said impaled bundles and spreading the impaled bundles as they advance along said support to loosen the leaves thereof.

2. The herein described method of treating bundled tobacco which includes moving horizontally disposed tobacco' bundles in a rectilinear path, while so moving the bundles impaling them on a support, turning the impaled bundles into a vertical position, advancing the impaled bundles along said support and while so advancing the impaled bundles spreading them to loosen the leaves thereof.

3. The herein described method of treating bundled tobacco which includes moving a succession of horizontally disposed bundles of tobacco in a rectilinear path, impaling the bundles in succession on a support, advancing the impaled bundles along the support, while the bundles are being so advanced progressively spreading them to loosen the leaves thereof and while so spreading the bundles blowing dust, dirt and foreign matter from the leaves thereof.

4. In combination a conveyor belt along which a plurality of horizontally disposed tobacco bundles are adapted to be advanced, a tapered bundle spreader onto the reduced end of which the bundles are delivered by the belt, a hold down belt adjacent the delivery end of the conveyor belt for holding the heads of the bundles against the conveyor belt and a belt operating in a vertical plane parallel to the direction of travel of said conveyor belt for tilting the tobacco bundles into a vertical position as they leave the conveyor belt.

5. In combination a conveyor belt along which a plurality of horizontally disposed tobacco bundles are adapted to be advanced, a tapered bundle spreader onto the reduced end ot which the bundles are delivered by be'lt, a hold down :belt adjacent the delivery: endof theconveyor belt for holding the headsof thebundles against the conveyor belt, a belt'operating in :a'vertical .plane parallel to the direction of travel of said conveyor belt for tilting the tobacco-bundles into avertical position as they leave the conveyor belt and means to hold the tobacco'bundles ina-ver-tical position on the spreader.

6. The herein described method of treating hands or bundles of tobaccotea'ch having a head or butt which includes advancing horizontally disposed tobacco bundles Lin succession along :a rectilinear path, while-"so advancing said bundles impaling the bundles :on a support, turning the impaled lbundles int-o a vertical position, advancing -the impaled bundles along the support and spreading themto loosen the leavestthereof, and while so advancingand spreading the 1 impaled bundles blowing 'foreign matter from .the leaves thereof.

7. A method of handling bundledtobacco. for storage of the same which includes the steps :01

moving horizontally and transversely disposed tobacco bundles along a horizontal Path, while so moving the bundles 1 in succession along --said path spreadingthe leaves thereof and turning the bundles into'a'ver'tical position, moving a stick in the direction of its longitudinal dimension, -while so-moving thestick depositing the spread bundles in succession-thereon, then-moving the stick with the bund-les'thereon in a "direction transverse its longitudinal dimension.

8. Tobacco treating I apparatus which includes a conveyor along which bundles of tobacco are advanced in succession, a rotary spindle "having a pointed end, said pointed-end being disposed above the delivery end 'of 'sa-id conveyor for' penetrating bundles advancing upon the conveyor, and means'onthe spindle to advance the bundles received thereon longitudinallythereoi 9. Tobacco treating apparatuswhich includes a conveyor along which horizontally "disposed bundles of tobacco areadvanc'ed, a rotary -spindle having apointed end onto-which the bundles are delivered by the conveyor with "the --pointed end abovethe de'livery' end of the conveyor for penetrating the bundles advancing thereupon, means on 'the spindle operableupon the'rotation thereof to advance the'bundles toward-the'other end thereof, and means to drive theconveyor and spindle in unison.

10. Tobacco treatingapparatus-which includes a conveyoralong which bundles of tobacco are advanced in succession, a tapered, rotaryspin'dle having its smaller endspaced above the delivery end of said conveyor to penetrate advancin'g bundlessuccessively, and means on the spindle operable upon the rotation thereof to advance 8 the bundles toward the larger end thereof to loosen the leaves in the bundles.

11. Tobacco treating apparatus which includes a'conveyoralong which bundles of tobacco are advanced in succession, a tapered rotatable spindle havingits smaller end disposed above the delivery end of the conveyor and onto which the successive bundles are impaled by the spindle, and .means including spiral grooves in said spindle adapted to advance bundles impaled thereon towards the larger end of the spindle to loosenthe leaves in the bundles.

12. The combination of claim 11, wherein said spreader is provided with an axial bore and radial passages communicating with said bore, and means forblowing air intosaid bore for cleaning the leaves of said bundles.

13. The combination of claim 12, including a spiral groove on said spindle, and means to rotate said spindle.

14. Tobacco treating apparatus which includes a conveyor along the upper flight of whichhorizontally disposed bundles of tobacco are advanced in succession, a tapered spreader the smaller end of which is disposed above the delivery end of the conveyor and onto which successive bundles are impaled by the conveyor, and a guide disposed adjacent and extending below the upper flight of the conveyor at the delivery end thereof. saidguide being inclined downwardly in the direction of advance for turning bundles impaled upon the spindle into a vertical position.

15. Tobacco treating apparatus which includes a conveyor along which horizontally disposed bundles of tobacco are advanced in succession, a tapered spreader onto the smaller endof which successive bundles are impaled by'the conveyor, a guide disposed adjacent the delivery end of the conveyor being inclined downwardly in the dlrection of the tobacco bundle advance for turning the bundles into a vertical position, means to advance the impaled bundles toward the larger end of thespreader to loosen the leaves in the bundles, means to drive the conveyor and bundle advancing means .in unison, and means :at the larger end oi the spreader for depositing the .bundles on a cs 10 EDWARD R. COLEY.

REFERENCES CITED "The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES "PATENTS Number Name Date 1,306,374 Gilbert 'June 10, 1919 1,362,893 -Paylor. Dec. 21, 1920 2,152,965 Kersey Apr. 4, 1939 -2,303;908 Brashear Dec. 1, 1942 

